Wool sampler



' lJune-19, 1945. A. JoHNsv-roN ETAL' 2,378,484

WOOL SAMPLER Filed NOV. 25, 1944 Patente-l June-19, 1945` I WooL SAMPLER Alexander Johnston and George C, Le Compte, v Arlington, Va., assignors to the United States of y America as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture Application November z5, 1944, serai No. 565,1'2'2y 3 Claims.

(Granted under the actof MarchV 3,1883, as

l amended Aprill 30, 1928; 370 G. 757) u' This application is made under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended by the act of April 30, 1928, and the invention herein described, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment to us of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to wool sampling, and particularly to devices for cutting out a sample of wool kknownas a core, from loosely-.bagged wool.r

Wool `sampling devicesr of the prior art, when employed on loosely bagged wool, are deficient in certain respects. Often, after many insertions of thev sampler into the wool being sampled, no core is obtained due to insufficient resistance of the wool, the sampler Icy-passing the wool in its path instead of'cutting through it. Also, when cores are obtained, there is a tendency forthe wool to rope and twist within the sampler with the result that the sampler becomes jammed and will not press lfurther into the wool, because the roping and twisting tends to prevent the entrance of more wool intov the sampler. This deficiency of prior devices is due to the fact that their internal diameters are not Variable at any point and no provision is made to force the core deep into the sampler or to prevent the core from being pulled out again when the sampler is withdrawn from the wool. These and other deciencies of devices of the Prior art result in samples that are not truly representative of the wool bulk.

This invention has for its object the provision of a Wool sampler which will obviate lthe deciencies mentioned above and Arender wool sampling mucheasier, more expeditious, accurate, and economical. n

According to this invention awocl sampler is provided which comprises a circular tube having a circular cutter at the forward end of the tube and having a rigid, radially inwardly projecting spiral ridge xed onv the interior surface of the 4tube adjacent to the cutter, whereby as the wool sampler is rotatedl and pressed into a mass of wool, the cutter will cut out a core of wool, and the spiral ridge will propel the core into the tube.

The spiral-ridge, which is located adjacent to I and behind the cutter, serves many functions. It

helpsto pull the wool away from the cutting edge of the cutter as the wool is cut and forces it down the body of the tube. By its action, it aids the cutter by preventing the wool from becoming entwined around' the cutter. Furthermore, it propels the core into the body of the tube and thus sampler is 'withdrawn from the-bag of Wool being sampled.

The vcutter is preferably cfa larger internal diameter ythan the portion of the tube remote from n the rearward end and containing the spiral ridge but of smaller internal diameter than the remaining rear portion of the tube.Y This arrangement causes a constriction in the forward end of the tube which, when supplemented by the actionvof the spiral ridge, serves to prevent theV wool from roping or twisting, and when the core is propelled into the remaining portion of the tube, it expands because of the increased internal diameter, thus resistingany tendency to be pulled back out when the sampler is being withdrawn from the wool.

In the accompanying drawing, which illustrates an embodiment of the invention,

.Figure 1 is an exploded elevational view of the wool sampler, v

Figure 2` is a longitudinal section of the wool sampler in its assembled form,

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section of the coupler alone, andy t -Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of vFigure 2. Referring more particularly to the drawing, the wool sampler, preferably of a circular, cylindrical,

vtubular shape, has' a smooth exterior surface and a smooth interior surface, and comprises a tube pins I6, one of which is shown in Figure 1, the

other lying diametrically opposite. The chuckpins are mounted on the exterior surface of chuck I5 and engage conventional bayonet tube slots I1 located within the interior surface of the rear end of tube II. The chuck I5 provides a tapered bore I8 for mounting a power mechanism, not shown, to rotate the sampler.

The coupler I4 is rigidly attached to tube I I and mounts throat pins I9 and cutter pin 20 on its interiorsurface, said throat pins I9 engaging the conventional bayonet throat slots 2| located on the exterior surface of throat I2, thus attaching the throat I-2 to tube I I, while said cutter pin 20 attaches the cutter I3 to the coupler I4.

prevents the core from being pulled out when the The throat I2 is of vsmaller internal diameter than both the cutter I3 and the tube I I, is separately attached, to tube I I, and when properly positioned in ythe sampler, lies just beyond the forward end of tube II in alignment therewith and within-a portion of the space surrounded by coupler I4. The throat I2 has a rigid, radially inwardly projecting spiral ridge 22 xed on its interior surface which extends the full circumference of the throat I2.

The cutter I3 is a split ring formed of spring steel, having an aperture 23 in its circumference which is bisected by the split 24. The cutter I3 is of larger internal diameter than the throat I2 but of smaller internal diameter than tube I I, is positioned at the extreme forward end of the sampler between the .forward exterior surface of throat I2 and the forward interior surface of coupler I4, and has its cutting'edge 25 extending beyond the forward ends ofthe throat I2 and coupler I4. As mentioned before, the cutter I3 is separately attached to coupler I4 by means of cutter pin 20. When placed into position, the split ends of the cutter I3 are made to overlap and the cutter I3 then inserted, before the throat I2 is positioned, into the space it is to occupy. The split cutter I3 is then opened to place the halves of the aperture 23 about .cutterpin 20, and then released so that cutter I3 becomes firmly attached to coupler I4 through cutter pin 20. Throat I2 is then inserted through the hollow center of the cutter I3, into its proper position.

Keyholes 26, one of which is shown in Figure 2, the other lying diametrcally opposite, are located in the interior surface of throat I2 and are the means for receiving a convenient tool, such as a T-shaped key, for engaging the keyholes 26 and manually rotating throat I2 to engage or disengage, as desired, throat slots 2I and throat pins I9, thus securely attaching. or detaching the throat I2 and'tube II.

In assembling the sampler, the ycutter is first attached to the coupler lli by means of aperture 23 engaging cutter. pin 2E. The throat I2 is then inserted within a portion of the space surrounded by coupler i4 and the convenient tool then sim ilarly inserted within throat I2 so as Vto engage keyholes 26. This key is then rotated until throat slots 2l -engage throat pins I9 and .thus secure throat I2 to tube II. Chuck I5 is attached to tube I I by means of tube slots l'l engaging chuckpins i6 and a power mechanism, such as an elec tric drill, not shown, is mounted on chuck I by means of tapered bore I8. The power mechanism .f is then actuated to rotate the sampler.

In operation, the cutting edge 25 of cutter I3 is pressed against the bag of wool being sampled. As the cutting edge 25 rotates, it cuts the wool bres which form a core. This core is then retracted into throat I2 as it is cut and forced down into the body of tube il by spiral ridge 22.

Having thus described our invention, what is claimed isi l. A wool sampler comprising a circular tube having a circular cutter at the forward end or the tube and having a rigid, radially inwardly projecting spiral ridge xed on the interior surface of the tube adjacent to the cutter for propelling a core of wool into the rearward portion of the tube as the tube is rotated to cut the core, the internal diameter of said cutter being larger than the internal diameter of the tube surrounding said spiral ridge but smaller than the internal diameter of the remaining rear portion of the tube.'

2. A wool sampler comprising a circular tube, a circular throat, and a circular cutter, said tube having a coupler attached to its forward end;

said throat being of smaller internal diameter than the tube, being located beyond the forward end of the tube in alignment therewith, being attached to the tube by means lof said coupler, and having a, rigid, radially inwardly projecting spiral ridge fixed on its interior surface for propellinga core of wocl into the rearward portion or" the tube as the tube is rotated to cut the core; said cutter being of smaller internal. diameter than the tube but of larger internal diameter than the throat, being located ,between the coupler and the throat, and having its cutting edge extending beyend the forward ends of the throat and coupler.

3. AA wool sampler comprising a circular tube having a, circular cutter at its forward end, having a portion remote from the rearward end adiacent to the cutter, said portion being of smaller internal diameter than that portion rearwardly thereof, and having a rigid, radially inwardly projecting spiral ridge xed on the interior surface of that portion of the tube having the smaller internal diameter for propelling a core of wool into the rearward portion of the tube as the tube is rotated to cut the core.

ALEXANDER JOHNSTON. GEORGE C. LE COMPTE. 

